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  • Iraq-based super app Baly, backed by Germany’s Rocket Internet has closed a Seed round of $10.5 million from Kingsway Capital, MSA Capital, Global Founders Capital, Vostok Ventures, Majid Al Futtaim and March Holding. It is the largest financing round for an Iraqi startup and Rocket Internet’s first foray into the country.
  • Founded in 2021 by Munqith Alazzawi and Matteo Mantovani, Baly launched its first ride-hailing service in Baghdad last month. It plans to launch additional services like food and grocery delivery over the next few weeks.Super apps have been gaining traction across the Middle East, attracting $158 million in investment in 2021.

Press release:

Baly, Iraq’s first superapp, announced today the closing of the largest seed round in the tech history of Iraq. The company, backed by Germany’s Rocket internet, raised USD 10.5 million from Kingsway Capital, MSA Capital, Global Founders Capital, Vostok Ventures, Majid Al Futtaim and March Holding. The amount and the class of participating investors signals strong confidence in the team and model in a still nascent market.

Baly launched ride-hailing as its first service in Baghdad last month, and already boasts thousands of rides each day. In the next few weeks, additional services, like food and grocery delivery, will go live and Baly will expand to cover more cities in the country.

Arnd Lodowicks, CFO of Rocket Internet, stated: “Baly is for us a world class team in an extremely exciting and promising market. We are looking forward to supporting the company on its mission to become the leading super app of Iraq.”

Founding team member Munqith Alazzawi said: “We are thrilled to announce the closure of our first funding round, just weeks after launch. These funds will accelerate our expansion across the country and support the start of further business lines including food-delivery in the coming weeks.”

According to the company, Baly has already attracted more than 70 employees, including some of the best local and global talent from McKinsey, INSEAD, Cambridge University, Baghdad University and Tsinghua University.

Managing Director Matteo Mantovani highlighted: “Iraq is home to 40 million people, with over 90 per cent smartphone penetration amongst those aged 17-40. With a young, urbanised population, it is the perfect place to revolutionise the economy through digital services.”

Surce: Wamda

 

(English version)

Durant la dernière décennie, la région MENA a fait l’expérience d’une croissance économique et démographique considérable, qui devrait continuer dans le futur. La demande d’énergie dans ces diverses régions (composée d'importateurs et d’exportateurs d’énergie) se développe entre 3% et 8% par an. En réalité, la demande d’énergie s’élève si rapidement dans le monde Arabe que même les pays qui ont traditionnellement exporté de l'énergie dans le passé sont confrontés à la perspective de devenir eux-mêmes des importateurs d’énergie. La courbe suivante montre la demande croissante d’électricité dans la région Arabe à travers le temps, plus précisément au sein du Conseil de Coopération du Golfe.

 

لا بد من إشراك المغتربين لإطلاق الطاقات البشرية غير المستغلة خاصةً وقت الأزمات

 

اظهرت دراسة لمجموعة البنك الدولي في مطلع العام 2017 حول الدور الذي يمكن أن يلعبه المغتربون في تعزيز التكامل الاقليمي والاقتصادي ونشرت تحت عنوان "حشد جهود المغتربين من منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا من أجل تحقيق التكامل الاقتصادي وريادة الأعمال" أن المغتربين من بلدان الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا يمكنهم القيام بدور بالغ الأهمية في تعزيز التكامل الإقليمي وريادة الأعمال والنمو الاقتصادي في المنطقة، كما يمكنهم مساعدة بلدانهم على أن تصبح من الأطراف الفاعلة الرئيسية في الاقتصاد العالمي.

 

ايمن ابو الخير

هل نحن في مرحلة اجتياز الاقتصادي المهيمن القائم على أساس المصانع الكبيرة والشركات متعددة الجنسيات إلى عالم يقوم على حرية الاختيار، الذي سيتمكن فيه الكيانات الصغيرة من المنافسة مع الشركات الكبيرة،وبالتالي ستساهم في تشكيل اقتصاد المستقبل؟ هل نحن فعلا بصدد عبور الاقتصاد "التناظري" الحقيقي الى الاقتصاد الافتراضي، ام ان الانتقال سيكون من الاقتصاد الافتراضي الى الاقتصاد الحقيقي؟

By Ayman Abualkhair

 

Are we in a stage of passing the dominant economic age, based on large factories and multinational companies, to a world predicated on freedom of choice, in which small entities would have the potential to compete with large companies, and hence shape the future economy? Are we crossing the age of a real economy to a virtual one, or is it moreover transitioning from a virtual economy to a real economy?

مجلة الشرق الاوسط للأعمال - ميدل ايست بزنس

هي ليست مجرد شجرة، يُستفاد من كل اجزاءها، تُغني زارعها، تشفي آكلها، وتحمي الأرض من تحتها وترفع اعمدة الحضارات فوقها... انها شجرة النخيل وثمارها من الرطب والتمر. جاء في القرآن الكريم: 

﴿وَهُوَ الَّذِي أَنشَأَ جَنَّاتٍ مَّعْرُوشَاتٍ وَغَيْرَ مَعْرُوشَاتٍ وَالنَّخْلَ وَالزَّرْعَ مُخْتَلِفًا أُكُلُهُ وَالزَّيْتُونَ وَالرُّمَّانَ مُتَشَابِهًا وَغَيْرَ مُتَشَابِهٍ كُلُوا مِن ثَمَرِهِ إِذَا أَثْمَرَ وَآتُوا حَقَّهُ يَوْمَ حَصَادِهِ وَلَا تُسْرِفُوا إِنَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُسْرِفِينَ﴾(الأنعام141).

Iraq

11 Mar 2015

               

Iraq's economy is dominated by the oil sector. Oil exports provide over 90% of government revenue and 80% of foreign exchange earnings. Prior to the outbreak of the war with Iran in September 1980, Iraq's economic prospects were bright. Oil production had reached a level of 3.5 million barrels per day, and oil revenues were $21 billion in 1979 and $27 billion in 1980. At the outbreak of the war, Iraq had amassed an estimated $35 billion in foreign exchange reserves.

Despite a difficult security and political environment, Iraq managed to maintain macroeconomic stability over the past  years.  An improving security environment and foreign investment are helping to spur economic activity, particularly in the energy, construction, and retail sectors. Broader economic development, long-term fiscal health, and sustained improvements in the overall standard of living still depend on the central government passing major policy reforms.

Iraq will need to address serious medium-term challenges in order to be able to create the conditions for high and sustainable growth that is necessary to improve the living standards of its people. The economy continues to suffer from severe structural weaknesses such as a small nonoil sector, high unemployment, public sector dominance, and a weak business environment.
While oil-growth is projected to remain high over the coming years, boosting non-oil private sector growth will need a long-term government strategy centered on improving the business environment and opening up opportunities for the private sector.

Essential Information    

Area: 438,317 sq km
Population: 31,858,481 (2013 est.)
Capital: Baghdad
Principal Towns: Basra, Mosul, Kirkuk.
Languages: Arabic is the official language, while some 15% of the population speak Kurdish. English and French are widely used in business.
Gross Domestic Product: $130.6 billion (2012 est.)
GDP per capita: $4,099 (2012 est.)
GDP per capita (PPP): $4,600 (2012 est.)
International Reserves: $67.7 billion (2012 est.)
Climate: The summer is very hot; the July average for Baghdad is 35°C, but this can exceed 40°C. The north is cooler. Winters are cold with Baghdad frequently seeing frost. In the north one can expect snow while the south is much warmer.
Currency: $1 = 1,161.00 IQD Iraqi Dinar
 
DEMOGRAPHY
Age Distribution (2013 est.)
0-14 years: 37.6%
15-24 years: 19.7%
25-54 years: 35.4%
55-64 years: 4.2%
65 years and over: 3.1%
 
Population Growth 2.345% (2012 est.)   


Education
Of total population, 78.2% age 15 and over can read and write  (2010)
 
NATURAL RESOURCES
Fossil Fuel
Petroleum, natural gas
Minerals
Phosphates, sulfur
Hydro-electric
In 2006, hydroelectrique power production of Iraq was estimated at 480 million kwh.

Visa Requirements:

All visitors, except Jordanian and some other Arab nationals, require visas. Visitors must be sponsored and visas must be obtained in advance. Anyone remaining for more than 15 days must register with the residence department and may subsequently require an exit visa to depart.
Within five days of arrival visitors must attend a hospital or health centre to make an appointment for an AIDS test. A certificate or proof of a forthcoming appointment is required.

 National Day, 3 October

Current local time Weather

 

Diplomatic representation of Iraq in Switzerland


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